Lightsaber Dueling Sport Gets Support From French Fencing Federation

France is now officially home to what may be the most entertaining sport: lightsaber dueling. The sport has received support from the French Fencing Federation, which is reportedly providing fencing clubs with lightsabers for training and battles. What makes lightsaber dueling an appealing sport? It gets kids off their phones and engaging in a physical activity.

Lightsaber dueling doesn't involve real laser swords, of course, but rather polycarbonate replicas with lights that give them the iconic glow popularized by Star Wars. The lightsabers are pretty safe, at least as far as swords are concerned, and they hold a certain appeal that traditional fencing weapons lack.

According to the Associated Press, the French Fencing Federation views lightsaber dueling as a potential way to get kids interested in sports, a healthy alternative to the public health crisis that is sedentary gaming and phone use.

"That is why we are trying to create a bond between our discipline and modern technologies," according to the federation's secretary general Serge Aubailly, "so participating in a sport feels natural."

Of course, the budding sport has its fair share of adult participants, too. A national lightsaber tournament took place near Paris earlier this month and featured 34 competitors wielding lightsabers. The hall where the fights took place was dim to make the bright lightsabers stand out, giving it an entertainment edge, as well.

How does the relatively new sport work? Competitors battle to earn points, with strikes to different body parts earning various rewards. A strike to the hand is only worth one point, for example, but a strike to the head gets the participant five points. The first to reach 15 points wins the round, though there's also the potential for a "sudden death" match.